LEDC Update
We are extremely excited here at the LEDC! We have just set a date for our first Small Business Workshop. We will be having Kathy Williams of Professional Office Solutions come to speak about best bookkeeping practices on Wednesday, November 20th .
The workshop, which is totally free to attend, will be taking place at noon at the County Seat Café and lunch will be provided to attendees. I want to encourage all current & prospective Linden area business owners to attend this event.
This will be the first in a series of quarterly workshops that will cover topics including accounting, marketing, taxes, and a host of others.
Getting this project off of the ground hasn’t been easy and there is still a lot of work to come, but I believe it will have a significant impact on our economic landscape and will continue to have great value as the future of Linden unfolds. I would like to give a special “thank-you” to David Withers and Shawn Larson for their help in crafting this new program as well as the LEDC Board of Directors for greenlighting it.
We have an incredible group of small business owners in Linden. Our entrepreneurs are driven, innovative, and dedicated to their community as well as the work that they do on a day-to-day basis. With the addition of these workshops, we are hoping to provide our small business owners with a new informational resource with which to pursue success.
From an EDC perspective, projects like this are exactly the kind of initiatives that fall under business retention & expansion. We will always strive to ensure that our businesses have all of the information and resources at their fingertips to not only survive, but to thrive in our city.
Before I close out this week’s update, I would like to take a moment to address the tragedy that recently befell our neighbors to the north. As you all most likely know by now, a fire claimed two buildings and damaged several others in downtown Atlanta last week. While thankfully no lives were lost, this kind of loss of historical downtown architecture is still very significant. My heart truly goes out to all affected in this trying time.
Growing up here and working with the LEDC over the past year, I personally know and have had the privilege to work with many Atlanta citizens. I know that those with the Atlanta Area Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta’s municipal government, and Atlanta’s other community organizations work tirelessly days, nights, and weekends to make their city prosper.
After last week’s tragedy, the road to recovery before them will be a long one and the toll will be felt for months and perhaps even years to come. However, knowing the people of Atlanta as I do, I know that they have great strength to face the challenges ahead and have already shown a stupendous outpouring of support to those who have lost in the wake of the fire.
I also want to be sure to highlight the bravery of the firemen who fought to save what they could from the flames. Atlanta’s fire department was joined by immense support from many surrounding fire districts—Linden’s included.
As an Atlanta citizen once told me, “In northeast Texas, we are one community.” His words resonate in my mind today as I think on the events of last week. If you haven’t already, I would implore that you send up a prayer for our extended community in Atlanta, Texas as they work to rebuild their downtown.
Atlanta’s pain is our pain. We share in that as their neighbors in the same way that we share in their successes as they share in ours. We truly are one community.